Project

Creative Havens: Syrian Artists And Their Studios

‘Creative Havens: Syrian Artists And Their Studios’ is a Franco-Syrian non-profit project. Established in May 2015, it comprises three founding members: Khaled Youssef (Syrian native living in France, photographer, poet, art-lover, surgeon by profession, and co-founder of the SYRIA.ART association), Danii Kessjan (French native living in Germany, digital artist/collagist, art-lover, translator by profession, and co-founder of the SYRIA.ART association), as well as Humam Alsalim (Syrian national residing in Damascus, Syria, architect, art-lover, and co-founder of the SYRIA.ART association, and founder of the ‘Cyrrus Gallery – Contemporary Syrian Art‘ online art gallery).

This project aims to raise awareness about the Syrian Art to the public, presenting portraits of Syrian artists in their studios and in their work environments. Through elaborate photographs and videos, as well as exclusive interviews, the Syrian artists open the doors of their studios, and offer a glimpse inside their “sanctuaries of creativity.” In expressing in depth their opinions on different aspects of contemporary Syrian art, they bear witness to what it means to be a Syrian artist in the today’s world.

The ‘Creative Havens: Syrian Artists And Their Studios’ project expresses a profound commitment to inter-artistic, inter-cultural and humanitarian engagement. The Syrian artists’ portraits aim to not only reveal the complexity and pluralism of the Syrian Art, but also to raise public awareness about the incredible wealth of the Syrian culture, and this, in a deeply humanistic and apolitical perspective.

And finally, this project is a cry of hope launched towards the blue of the sky, a universal cry of hopefulness, respect and life towards the people of Syria and all the people of the world; an ultimate cry that is eager to fight, with all its might, against the abominable acts and deeds of all those who are to be referred to as the “vile enemies of Mankind.”